DESIRE FOR PEACE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 249, 18 July 1944, Page 5

DESIRE FOR PEACE

German Prison Guards No Longer Arrogant

(From Godfrey Blunden, Special Correspondent.) STOCKHOLM, July 10.

Two escaped British prisoners of war have given me an interesting account of morale in Germany since the Allied landings in Normandy. The men arrived in Stockholm this week after having got away from a prison camp in central Germany. They said the landings produced two reactions among German prison guards—disillusion because the Atlantic Wall bad been cracked, and hope that the war would soon be over.

One of the ex-prisoners told me: “When our guards asked us—as they frequently did —when we thought the war would end, we always told them in at least two or throe years. Wc said this in a manner indicating that it was a matter of complete indifference to us. It was amusing to watch the gloomy expressions on the Germans’ faces. News of the Allied landings in Normandy, which reached the prison camps the same day, produced great excitement among the prisoners. One of the escaped British prisoners told me: “Morale of the British soldiers in German camps could not be higher. “German punishments, such as manacling, had not the slightest effect on the attitude of the British soldier, who was always contemptuous of his prison guards, and always had an unwavering confidence in victory. This attitude has finally broken down the morale of the guards, whose former arrogance Ims changed to cringing. There is pot the slightest doubt that German civilians share Ibis feeling, and are hoping only that the war will.soon, be over.” I asked the ex-prisoner what he thought would happen inside Germany immediately hostilities ceased. He replied: “There will be chaos. In my view many civilians will seek protection inside the big prison camps.” Russians 111-treated.

British prisoners, said my inlormailt are treated best. They live almost entirely on parcels received through the International Red Cross. He added that hundreds of prisoners escape every month. , ~ . Recapture usually meant a fortnights solitary confinement and bread-and-water diet, but there were also other indignities. such as being compelled to stand with toes and nose touching the wall tor 24 hours. This, he added, was a 'brutal form of punishment, particularly if the prisoner happened to be suffering from dysentery. Russian prisoners, who receive no parcels of any kind, are treated “unspeakably.” the Britisher told me. British prisoners try to pass cigarettes to the Russians, but the Russians are beaten by the guards if any gifts are found on them.